Arthropod fauna of the UAE, 4: 488–608 Date of publication: 31.05.2011 Order Hymenoptera, families Crabronidae and Sphecidae Christian Schmid-Egger INTRODUCTION Sphecid wasps or digger wasps are large (30 mm) to minute (1.8 mm) wasps with a worldwide distribution and a focus in arid and semi arid areas. Females hunt other insects or spiders for larval nutrition, a few species develop as cleptoparasitoids of other sphecids. Around 300 of the 7000 worldwide species occur in the Arabian Peninsula (Ohl, in litt., own observation). Part of the genera of the Arabian fauna were revised by Guichard (1980–1994), other genera were dealt with in several revisions by Pulawski (1962–1995) and other authors. Consequently, knowledge about the sphecids from Arabia is quite extensive. Nevertheless, some important genera that occur in the Arabian Peninsula and southwest Asia have not been revised until now and therefore identification of a part of the collected species will remain doubtful or is impossible for the moment. Sphecid wasps are mainly active during daylight and prefer high temperatures. They can be captured by hand-netting or by various kinds of traps. In desert areas, water traps are successful for sphecid collecting as well as Malaise traps. Collecting of the quick flying species of some genera, e.g. Bembix, Stizus or large Sphex-related species, is not easy and needs some experience and luck. Specimens can mainly be found on various flowers, but also on nesting places. Most Arabian species nests in the ground. Wood nesting species are rare because of lack of trees and larger shrubs in the deserts. The examined species occur in all important habitats of the UAE, from the costal dunes to the desert places (mainly in small oases or farms), as well as in the mountains. The most important collecting methods in the present investigation have been various kinds of traps. Because of this, the results differ from those of earlier examinations of sphecids in Arabia, and there is a marked increase of species with small body size (less than 5.0 mm) such as Solierella, Miscophus, Eremiasphecium, Belomicrus-related species and others. These genera are mostly overlooked by traditional sampling methods with a net, caused by the inconspicuous behaviour of these minute species. The former Hymenoptera family Sphecidae (s. lat., here called ‘sphecids’) is now divided into four families, forming the superfamily Apoidea together with the bees (Apidae). The present contribution covers most of the Crabronidae and Sphecidae s. str. The genera Trypoxylon Latreille, 1796, Pseudomicroides Antropov, 2001, and Belomicroides Kohl, 1899, will later be dealt with by Antropov, the genus Tachysphex by Straka & Schmid-Egger, and the genus Nitela Latreille, 1809, by Gayubo & Schmid-Egger The genera Diodontus Curtis, 1834, Larra Fabricius, 1793, Pseudoscolia Radoszkowski, 1876, the subfamily Astatinae and some other single specimens could not yet be identified and will possibly be published later. The two remaining small families of sphecids consist of the Heterogynaeidae (1 species in the UAE; dealt with by Ohl, 2008), and the Ampulicidae (2 species in the UAE; M. Ohl, in this volume). For the present contribution, 2665 specimens were examined, belonging to 128 species; 41 additional species are included from literature citations, consequently 169 species belonging to the fauna of the UAE are dealt with in the present paper. Eight species are described as new to science: Bembix hauseri (also occurring in Oman), Crossocerus antropovi, Eremiasphecium pulawskii; Laphyragogus strakai, Miscophus paolorosai, Plenoculus vanharteni, Solierella jacobsi, and Synnevrus ohli; 82 species are new for the Order Hymenoptera, families Crabronidae and Sphecidae 489 fauna of the UAE, and 34 species are new to the Arabian Peninsula. About 35–40 additional species can be expected from the material not yet identified, which gives an expected total number of about 210 species of ‘sphecids’ in the UAE. MATERIALS AND METHODS This chapter is based on material collected in the framework of the UAE Insect Project, Sharjah, by Antonius van Harten between 2005 and 2009; by Martin Hauser in March 2008, and by the author in March 2009; also on material collected by E. Sugden in 1984. Some other records of specimens collected by Oistein Berg, Oslo/Norway, Erwin Scheuchl, /Germany and Jan Batelka, Prague/Czech Republic have been added and a few additional specimens from the UAE were found in the Oberöstereichisches Landesmuseum, Linz/Austria. Antonius van Harten and E. Sugden collected their material in traps (water traps, light traps, Malaise traps) only, the material of Martin Hauser, Jan Batelka and the author was collected by hand netting. The author visited the country for a second time in January 2011, but includes here only paratype data of two new species. The remaining material will be published later. The present checklist includes examined material as well as species mentioned in literature. The following information is given below: ‘specimens examined': number of examined specimens, locations, and flight period. Only in types or in very rare specimens (up to 2 or 3 records), detailed information is given. The collector of most specimens is Antonius van Harten, he is not always mentioned separately. Longitude and latitude information is only given for type specimens, a full list of location data is given in the ‘Introduction’ to this volume. The material is mainly deposited in following collections: Author’s collection (CSE), collection of Humboldt Museum, Berlin/Germany (Berlin), UAE Invertebrate Collection and the collection of Naturalis, Leiden/Netherlands. Types are deposited in Berlin, until otherwise stated. Specimens collected in the localities Dubai/al-Awir and Dubai/Nakhalai were collected by E. Sugden only, and are deposited in the California Department of Food & Agriculture, Sacramento, California/USA. The systematic account follows that of Pulawski (internet database, 2010) with a few exceptions only. Genera and species are listed alphabetically within both families Sphecidae and Crabronidae. Literature citations for species identification are given, or identification keys and short diagnosis are included when necessary. Morphological terms follow that of Bohart & Menke (1976), and Pulawski & Prentice (2008). Antenna is divided into scape, pedicel and flagellomeres. Males have 11 flagellomeres (10 in some Solierella), females have 10 flagellomeres. In each plate, body length (= L) of the specimen is given. Abbreviations used: AvH = A. van Harten; CSE = C. Schmid-Egger, ES = E. Sugden, MH = M. Hauser; NARC = National Avian Research Centre; OOL = ocellar ocular line; POL = posterior ocellar line. SYSTEMATIC ACCOUNT Family Crabonidae Genus Ammatomus A. Costa, 1859 Identification: Pulawski, 1973. 490 C. Schmid-Egger Key to the species of Ammatomus from the Arabian Peninsula 1 Lateral carina of tergum I reaches end of tergum I. Hind tarsi yellow. In Arabia only in Oman: (Guichard, 1980) .......................................... Ammatomus asiaticus Radoszkowski – Lateral carina of tergum I end in apical half or 2/3 of tergum I. At least hind tarsus V partly black, in some mesostenus completely yellow ........................................................ 2 2 Hind tarsal segments I–III apically with black spot, hind tarsus V black. Diameter of mesonotal punctures large, similar to punctures of mesopleuron ......................................... ................................................................................ Ammatomus rufonodis Radoszkowski – Hind tarsal segments I–III yellow, hind tarsus V in most specimens black in apical half. Mesonotal punctures very small, half as large as mesopleural punctures ............................. - ................................................................................... Ammatomus mesostenus Handlirsch Ammatomus mesostenus Handlirsch, 1888 Plates 1–2 Specimens examined: 42 specimens. Al-Ajban. Flight period: March–November. Discussion: The specimens from the UAE differ from other specimens by colour. Tergum I and hindfemora are red, except for yellow tergal spots, and these parts are black in specimens from Egypt and Yemen. Mesonotal punctures much smaller and more scattered in specimens from the UAE (punctures 1–3 diameters apart), whereas punctures are large and punctuation is denser in specimens from other origins. It cannot be excluded that the specimens from the UAE represent a separate species, but more material from other Arabian countries is needed to make a final decision. Distribution: North Africa, Yemen, Iran to Central Asia (Pulawski, 1973). Yemen: Al-Kadan, 17.ii.1998 (leg. A. van Harten, coll. Leiden). New to the UAE. Ammatomus rufonodis Radoszkowski, 1877 Plate 3 Specimens examined: Wadi Maidaq, 1♀, 19.iii.2009, leg. CSE. Discussion: The species agrees with the subspec. saharae Handlirsch, 1895, as described by Pulawski (1973). Hind femora and basal 2/3 of tergum I are light reddish. The species is highly variable in colour, and saharae in my opinion has to be treated as a forma and not as a subspecies. Distribution: North Africa, Iran to Central Asia (Pulawski, 1973). The subspec. saharae was described from southern Algeria. New to the UAE. Genus Ammoplanus Giraud, 1869 Identification: Bouček, 2001. Ammoplanus rhodesianus Arnold, 1924 Plates 4–5 Specimens examined: 19 specimens. Al-Ajban, North of Ajman, Dubai/Nakhalai, ar-Rafah, Sharjah Desert Park, Um al-Quwain, Wadi Maidaq, Wadi Shawkah. Flight